5 possible candidates to replace Jake Dickert at Wazzu

Washington State coach Jake Dickert, who once said his employer would “have to pry my ass out of here,” left on his own terms Wednesday morning when he accepted the same post at Wake Forest.

We don’t blame Dickert for his departure. The dynamics have changed dramatically since he uttered that sentiment to the Hotline in the spring of 2022.

Back then, the Pac-12 was intact, the Cougars were a Power Five school and the football program had enough resources to compete with its peers.

Dickert is doing what he believes is best for his career, just as Jonathan Smith left Oregon State for Michigan State last year and Kalen DeBoer left Washington for Alabama in January. The circumstances differ, but a better offer is a better offer.

None of that eases the pain on the Palouse, where the Cougars must move quickly to replace Dickert, stabilize the program and create a foundation for next season and beyond in the rebuilt Pac-12.

The success of their coaching search depends entirely on the compensation package.

Dickert earned an average of $2.7 million (approximately) annually. We don’t expect the Cougars to dangle a similar offer, but will they come close?

The salary will send a message (or warning) to prospective candidates and to Washington State constituents about the school’s commitment to its football program — to winning, to relevance — at an intensely precarious time.

The Cougars just lost quarterback John Mateer and tailback Wayshawn Parker to the transfer portal and could have additional defections. (Players are allowed to enter the portal for 30 days following the departure of the head coach.)

Athletic director Anne McCoy will lead the search. Promoted to the post in June, she has been involved in every major WSU coaching hire for a quarter century. But above McCoy, there is uncertainty.

Kirk Schulz, president of the WSU system, is stepping down in the summer. To what degree will he participate in the search? How might the looming vacancy at the top of the org chart impact the candidate list? (Dave Cillay is the chancellor of the Pullman campus.)

Also, will Schulz, Cillay and Washington State’s Board of Regents make the necessary financial commitment as college athletics braces for the era of revenue-sharing with players?

Without details of the salary package, the Hotline is left to present a wide range of potential candidates who are current or former head coaches.

Sure, Washington State could offer the job to a well-regarded offensive or defensive coordinator with no head coaching experience. But that’s a next-level risk the Cougars should avoid at all costs.

They would be wise to scour the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) for candidates, as well. From DeBoer to Kansas’s Lance Leipold to Houston’s Willie Fritz to Kansas State’s Chris Klieman, a barrage of successful FBS coaches got their start at the lower levels.

Given their geography, the Cougars should take a long look at the biggest brains in the Big Sky. Had Dickert departed a week or two ago, they could have offered the position to Idaho’s Jason Eck. But he left for New Mexico four days ago.

Here are five names to watch:

Jeff Choate: The former WSU assistant coach (under Mike Leach) just finished his first season in charge at Nevada. Facing a complete rebuild, Choate won three games overall but was 0-7 in conference play. He played for Montana Western and has spent the bulk of his coaching career in the West, including a highly successful four-year stint as Montana State’s head coach.

Dana Holgorsen: The Leach disciple spent 13 years in charge at West Virginia and Houston. His teams were bowl-eligible 10 times and won at least 10 games on three occasions. Holgorsen was dismissed by the Cougars after the 2023 season. He spent this fall on Nebraska’s staff and was elevated to the post of offensive coordinator in November.

Jim Mora: Fans in the Pacific Northwest might have lost track of the former Seahawks and UCLA head coach, but Mora has worked magic recently at Connecticut — one of the toughest coaching jobs in major college football. (The Huskies have no conference, little tradition and a tiny recruiting base.) In his first season in Storrs, Mora turned a 1-11 team into a Myrtle Beach Bowl participant. UConn is bowl-eligible this year, as well, and scheduled to face North Carolina in the Fenway Bowl.

Tim Polasek: A former college quarterback (at Concordia), Polasek has worked for two respected head coaches: Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz and Wyoming’s Craig Bohl, who has since retired. Granted, Polasek’s experience running a program consists of a single season. But he aced the test in 2024, leading North Dakota State to a 12-2 record and a date (today) with South Dakota State in the FCS semifinals.

Brent Vigen: Listed last here (alphabetically), there’s a case to be made that Vigen should be Washington State’s No. 1 target. He replaced Choate at Montana State and has won consistently over four seasons in Bozeman, posting three years of double-digit wins. (This season, the Bobcats are 14-0 entering the FCS semifinals.)

Vigen earned $400,000 (approximately) in 2024, according to SkylineSports. Exactly what it would take to lure him to Pullman, we can only guess.

That’s true for others on this list, as well. (Mora’s annual compensation is $1.7 million, per USA Today.) The Cougars are desperate, and everyone knows it.

But they have options, quality options, if the university is willing to spend the money.

Jon Wilner has been covering college sports for decades and is an AP top-25 football and basketball voter as well as a Heisman Trophy voter.